Questionnaire Survey on Home Medical Care Services for Children with Severe Motor and Intellectual Disabilities (SMID) in Collaboration with Dental Care Services

Abstract

With the aid of a questionnaire, we confirmed the number of home medical care services for children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities （SMID） in Tokyo that collaborated with home dental care services. A total of 584 visiting nurse services were extracted from the list of the Tokyo Visiting Nurse Service Association. The response rate was 31.5% （184/584）. Only 18 home medical care services （19.1%） were found to collaborate with dental care services；this result was overwhelmingly low in Tokyo. Other dental care demands by parents, hospitals （medical doctors）, and visiting nurses included “oral care,” “eating function therapy,” and “dental treatment.” However, the demands were too high for the number of dentists in collaboration with the home medical care services. The results of this survey confirmed the increasing need for comprehensive dental care from visiting nurse services for children. It is imperative to improve child dental home care services corresponding to the dental care demands of parents, hospitals （medical doctors）, and visiting nurses.